Chen Wen Hsi framed oil painting on board with Bali Seni Lukis Samat Art Gallery label - 61 "Kampong" "Village" 25" x 30" O.D. (60 cm x 74 cm image size)"Village" "Kampong" Abstract Oil / lacquer on board196175 x 61cm / 29.5 x 24 in.• Provenance: Samat Gallery/Singapore, Private Estate/Minneapolis, MN, US, Private Estate/St. Paul, MN, US• Not visibly signed on front; unknown if signed on reverse• Original paper backing and original paper label remains. Damage to the paper backing has occurred from age, not from intentional tearing Chen Wen Hsi (b.1906 - d.1991) is one of Singapore's pioneer artists and was one of the lecturers in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. The late artist graduated from Xinhua Arts Academy in China and settle in Singapore in 1948. He is renowned for Chinese painting, and his works often depict the nature and animals. Lacquer and oil works are relatively rare in the artist's creations; and largely done in the 1960s during the artist's early works. Wen Hsi is an exceptional artist-innovator. If there is one element which runs through his life's work it is the innovative spirit. It is this ability to innovate which enables him to bring infinite variety into his compositions of Chinese art. The same forte sees him moving with apparent ease from Chinese art to Western art. As with the highly innovative artists like Picasso and Matisse, vision has long triumphed over tradition or medium. Indeed, Wen Hsi's art is characterized by distinct phases of high innovation. In the early fifties, he forged an art form with a 'local' identity resulting in many highly imaginative, powerful works. In the sixties, his restlessness moved him to create a series of semi-abstracts and abstracts when remains the most important series of his art in modern style. ~Choy Weng Yang, Curator of Art, National Museum, Singapore, 1982 SIMILAR PIECES (series of paintings using lacquer and gold paint done mainly in the 1960s) THAT ARE PUBLISHED:"The Moon Rises", subject: abstract, oil on canvas, 1968, 100x124 cm / 39x49 in.: Chen Wen Hsi Retrospective 1982, and Paintings by Chen Wen Hsi, Singapore, 1987."Fishing Kampong", subject: abstract village/kampong, oil on canvas, 1962, 100x124 cm / 39x49 in. Acquired by the National Art Gallery, Malasia, in 1964. Chen Wen Hsi Retrospective 1982, Singapore, Ministry of Culture and National Museum: Singapore, 1982, Kemahkotaan (Coronation), and Paintings by Chen Wen Hsi, Singapore, 1987."Good Earth", subject: abstract, oil on canvas, 1971: Chen Wen Hsi Retrospective 1982."Serenity", subject: abstract, mixed media on panel, c. 1960s, 66x75 cm / 26x29.5 in., title based on that found in April 2005 auction catalog from Sotheby's, who indicated this piece originated from a US-based art gallery in the 1960s: Convergences: Chen Wen Hsi Centennial Exhibition, Singapore Art Museum, 2006. Currently in the National Gallery, Singapore. This piece is the most similar (technique/size) piece in this series to "Village" "Kampong" 1961, currently at Luther Auction."Abstract Landscape" subject: abstract, mixed media on board, c. 1960s, 122x98 cm / 48x38.5 in., Strokes Across Eternity: A Tribute to Chen Wen Hsi, Singapore, 2013. Currently in the National Gallery, Singapore, gift of Jan Wu Mon Jan.EXHIBITIONS:1949 Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Singapore1951 Joint exhibition with Chen Chong Swee, Liu Kang and Cheong Soo Pieng1953 Joint exhibition with Chen Chong Swee, Liu Kang and Cheong Soo Pieng 1958 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1960 Victorian Artists’ Society, Melbourne, Australia1962 Commonwealth Arts Today exhibition, London, England1964 Victoria Memorial Hall, Singapore. 1965: Malaysia Art Exhibition, Commonwealth Festival of Arts, United Kingdom1965 Cologne and Duisburg, West Germany 1966 Artists’ Own Gallery, London, England 1968 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Oxford, England1972 Adelaide Cultural Festival, Australia 1974 Melbourne, Australia 1977 Auckland, New Zealand 1980 National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan 1982 Chen Wen Hsi Retrospective, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore 1987 Chen Wen Hsi Retrospective, National Art Museum of China, Beijing 1990 Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan~1991 passed away KNOWN COLLECTIONS:The National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The University of Singapore Nanyang University, Singapore The Sarawak Museum, Malaysia National Museum of Singapore Cologne Museum, Germany Oxford Museum, England Sir Malcolm MacDonald, former Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir John Nicoll, K.C.M.G., former Governor of Singapore His Majesty, Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand Sir Rt. Hon. Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of Great Britain Mr. Ohira, former Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Chun Doo Hwan, former President of Republic of Korea Dr. Kurt Waldheim, former Secretary General of the United Nations